Oh yeah, there was a holiday back there….
Hmm, after reading my recent family emails, I realized that I was the only one who didn’t provide a “what I did on July 4th” update. Mine is undoubtedly the least exciting, but still kind of funny in reflection…in a subtle, maybe-you-had-to-be-there kind of way. I volunteered to help transport the hospital’s long-term care residents to the parade downtown. Since it was a (characteristically) rainy day, this involved burying them under layers of winter coats, gloves, hats, blankets, and plastic ponchos until only their unblinking eyes peeked out. So, we took off in our own little parade the 7 blocks into the city, my backpack stocked with camera and a little plastic cup in case Benny’s teeth fell out in the street. (There was good reason to suspect this may happen as he was pushing on them grotesquely before we left, looking like a jeering Paddington Bear in his big yellow rainhat). The parade was as wonderful and satisfying as a small-town parade can be (sweet memories of the Ice Worm Festival in Cordova where the many-legged “worm” snaked down the hill followed by children on unicycles). As anyone who chooses can enter the parade, there were kids who made cardboard “jet packs” for their bicycles, groups of plant-toting environmentalists, a wet and grumpy student band, and a group of war protesters who immediately brought complete silence to the crowds (who then happily whooped when the fishnet-clad Coho Queens rolled in next). A few of our “residents” were also invited to join the parade, so in went “Betsy Ross,” her costume flowing over poncho and wheelchair, and Joe with his walker who promptly spilled his entire bag of candy over the street. The rest of us stood at the sidelines, watching the makeup drip and the candy fly, making split-second judgments about which pieces were worth rescuing from the dirty water in the street. (Judging by the aftermath, peppermints were rarely worth it.)
The rest of the day was spent drying indoors. Because the Southeast is only blessed with one (qualified) pyrotechnician, Sitka drew the short straw and had their holiday fireworks the day before, rather than on, July 4th. They weren’t released until 11:30pm when the sky finally became dark, and then promptly disappeared into rainclouds where they let off a distant, anticlimactic BOOM.
“Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it.”
George Bernard Shaw
Tags: Alaska, July 4th, Sitka, US of A
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